Joseph E. Petta
2023
Inside every empty fish is a story. What compels people to travel thousands of miles to a remote Alaska salmon cannery where the pay is low and the working conditions difficult, and why do so many of them return year after year? Cannery worker #4448 is on a quest to answer this question through the systematic accumulation of information at the canning rate of one fish every two seconds; this includes descriptions of cannery life and processes, interviews of cannery workers and other fish-related people, myriad data from all points, and personal observations. Time and miles wear on, salmon seasons come and go, humans process fish, and fish process humans in a never-ending cycle of mutual dependency. After decades of research, has The Fishmachine Documentary Project brought 4448 any closer to an answer?
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